Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (L) talks during the opening ceremony of a plant of PVC tubes in the state of Carabobo, in this handout picture provided by Miraflores Palace on February 11, 2016.Miraflores Palace/Handout via Reuters

Maduro's decree includes wider executive powers to control the budget, companies and the currency amid a severe economic crisis in the OPEC nation.

The new opposition-led National Assembly shot the measure down in late January, saying it offered no real solutions to the worsening recession, shortages, and inflation.

However, in a decision published on its website, Venezuela's top court granted leftist Maduro those executive powers, foreshadowing an institutional showdown.

"Now the economic emergency decree has been activated," Maduro rejoiced on state television. "So in the next few days I will activate a series of measures that I had been working on. This really helps our work."

Venezuela's opposition accused what it described as a subservient judiciary of undermining democracy.

"The Supreme Court cannot usurp the powers of the legislature," Juan Guaido, an opposition lawmaker from Vargas, said on Twitter.

The opposition has vowed to find a legal way to remove Maduro, by resignation or referendum, by mid-2016.